#ResistTrump today by giving yourself a big round of applause

Millions of women (and men) took to the streets in cities around the world yesterday to give a big middle finger to Donald Trump, and it was a lovely sight to behold.

Whether you attended one of these marches or not, give yourself a big round of applause for all the acts of resistance you engaged in over the past week. Get some extra sleep. Treat yourself to something nice. You deserve it, dammit!

These are the same people that wouldn’t shut up about “Obummer” and how awful he was when he was in office and wailing on and on about FREEZE PEACH. How strange.

(Incidentally, though his term is over, the fact that Obama is still around and after a well-deserved rest is apparently not going to passively take all this happening is a great comfort. He’s still a relatively young man and there’s still a lot of fight left to him yet.)

They really thought this would be enough of a setback that we’d just give up, roll over, and accept subservience. They will always underestimate us because they believe everyone in the world is weaker and more afraid than they are.

In the words of a (male) friend of mine “there are a whole lot of middle aged women with signs that say ‘pussy’ on them!”
This is someone who made it his new years resolution to be more politically engaged. He was disappointed at how few men were at the march, comparatively speaking.

It really was inspiring/rousing/heartening to be at the march on Saturday, and it’s been great seeing all the photos – not just of the massive (unprecedented, even?) turnouts in big cities and DC, but also of all the tiny towns where a significant chunk of the population marched in solidarity. Saturday was an important reminder that even with the institutional power that Trump and his pals now have, one thing they don’t have is the support of the American people.

Looking at my Facebook newsfeed, you’d think Trump had lost with how butthurt my conservative/Trumpista friends are responding.
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You would think these people would act slightly more triumphant. They’re acting just like their big baby tantrum-throwing Orange leader.

Yeah this seems to be a running theme across social media since the election. Like, a lot of Trump supporters probably didn’t even want Trump in a position of power so much as they wanted a chance to feel superior and to piss-off liberals. So now, with so many on the left activated and emboldened by the results, many Trump supporters actually got the opposite of what they wanted.

They’re just whining so much more than I anticipated! I’d have thought I’d see more “Oh, it’s a great day today!” and things of that stripe.

It kind of amazes me AND makes me chuckle ruefully all at once.

They really thought this would be enough of a setback that we’d just give up, roll over, and accept subservience. They will always underestimate us because they believe everyone in the world is weaker and more afraid than they are.

Yeah this seems to be a running theme across social media since the election. Like, a lot of Trump supporters probably didn’t even want Trump in a position of power so much as they wanted a chance to feel superior and to piss-off liberals. So now, with so many on the left activated and emboldened by the results, many Trump supporters actually got the opposite of what they wanted.

I think you misunderstand where their joy comes from, @dreemr. Electing Trump doesn’t make them happy, even conflict doesn’t make them happy – conquest makes them happy. Conquest and subjugation.

We’ve shown them that we are neither conquered nor subjugated, and that their latest attempt to do that failed horribly.

In my darker moments, I think they really do take glee in the desolation of others, in stamping down on those who are outside of their group. They aren’t even looking for a challenge or a good fight. They’re looking for victory for their side, and for everything else to be enslaved and ruined.

Their joy is our misery, so be joyful, everyone. That’s what defies them the most.

@Mike – they do seem to be most upset that we didn’t just roll over and instead have mobilized.

@Scildfreja – I think you’re onto something as well. They didn’t just want victory, they wanted our utter defeat and anhilation. I think they thought everyone would just have to shut up once big Daddy Trumpkin took over, and they seem completely dismayed that that hasn’t happened.

You do realise that those marches, as succesfull as they may be, acomplished nothing, do you ?

Because the man is still president.
He and his minion are still ready to create a fascist america and after that, a fascist western world. And saying “not my president” make them angry, but it doesn’t make them defeated.

The truth is, I think it will renforce there conviction that we must be killed because we oppose them.

Uderstand me : I do not think that the marches was bad idea. I just say that we shouldn’t rejoyce ourselves. Bad times are coming. I do not think that we can solve the current situation without civils wars in neraly every western nations. And fact is that they are well armed to fight us. They have the army, they have the police, and in your country, nearly all of them own at least one gun. We may have more scientist than they do, but when I see things like gamergate, when I see how many computer scientist are joining up with the mra and the ws, I’m not so sure. So I feel like we are laking firepower if we want to efficiently fight the fascist. And I think that we are going to lose badly. This time Russia won’t be there to save us.

Mycroft, I really really really don’t think it’s going to come to that. Trump’s supporters are already abandoning him in droves, and Republican politicians will abandon him once it’s clear that associating themselves with him might cost them their seats. If Trump gets desperate enough to actually try to wage war on half of America — actually well more than half — I don’t think the generals would follow his orders, and neither would soldiers.

Demonstrations like the ones we saw this weekend are basically votes of no confidence for Trump. The larger and more vocal his opponents are, the quicker his political allies will abandon him.

I disagree. The purpose of the marches wasn’t to unseat Trump, so they weren’t unsuccessful.

They were to remind us of the following:

– we are not alone
– there is hope
– democracy is not just about voting, it’s about making your voice heard
– women acting together is powerful
– it’s not just women that have our backs
– we have the best signs

I’d say the marches were thoroughly successful. This is not the end, this is the beginning.

Even if Mycroft were right in that the Trumpite won’t be deterred, the protest still do something. It will force Trump to assume being a fascist dictator way faster, which itself may start to actually create harder resistance to him. That’s not a *good* outcome mind you, but it accelerate the resolution of the Orange Agent problem.

Well, I do not think its political allies are what matter. They already have lost the confidence of the people. It’s its supporters that are the problem. Maybe the generals wont follow his orders. But the soldier will, because most of them believe in his lies. And the cops are the same. Most of the fascist want to crush us physicaly. They just wait for an excuse to do so.

It appears to me that his supporters are being reinforced in their opinion by the marches and the protest. But its maybe linked to the fact that I look at the worst of them. Do you have evidence that large part of his electorate are leaving him ? I didn’ find any. It would be a realy pleasant new.

In contrast to your friend’s view, I felt the proportion of men was about right.

Looking at who the media chose to quote in pieces about the March, men were over-represented compared with their attendance. This is partly because it’s natural for a journalist to seek a story and “this is a women’s March, why are you here?” is one, albeit quite an obvious and lazy one. But we also live in a patriarchal society, and people who aren’t examining their assumptions will find a male voice more authoritative. Can you imagine who would have been quoted if the attendance had been closer to 50:50? It’s an educational experience for men to find themselves in a minority, and supporting the voice rather than being the voice.

I would have been sad if the men had been a rarity. Their presence meant that people who took the time to research the March got the message. It reinforced the message that we were marching in solidarity on a number of issues, some of which directly affect us and some of which don’t.

So I think “about a fifth” was like Goldilock’s porridge (or rather baby bear’s!).

I agree, in London at least (that’s where I was, can’t speak for elsewhere) it was quite white. I can think of lots of potential reasons (the publicity may not have got out of the white feminist bubble, BME people have historically had a less positive experience of protesting, there are socio-economic barriers to marching which would have deterred lots of people of all colours – and that’s just off the top of my head), but I’m not in a position to speak intelligently about it beyond that, so I shall leave it there.

To add to what Weatherwax said, one of the most powerful human emotions is the feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. It’s hard to feel that when you’re behind a computer screen. It’s much easier to feel that when you’re surrounded by tens of thousands of pussy-hatted badasses who get all the same pop-culture references that you do. People discover that the most beautiful word in the English language is the word “we.” This is what nations are formed from.

On Saturday, that’s what we saw. A lot of people turned up, hoping that they wouldn’t be the only one. We discovered that not only were we not the only one, we’re a very long way from the only one. We aren’t going to just go home now. There will be a next time.

This is one of the reasons why the carnival atmosphere of a good march is so important. Music, banners, costumes and singing all help to motivate everyone to do it again next time, and that gives the movement sustained strength.

I’m sometimes a bit sceptical about the efficacy of protests. However this feels like one of the expections, for all sorts of reasons.

Firstly there such a broad level of support. It’s much harder for people to dismiss the protestors as ‘hippies and layabouts’. Now that’s an unfair criticism of course, but unfortunately it’s one that’s often made by TPTB and bought into by the media.

There’s also the fact that the news cycle is now about the protests rather than the inauguration. The protestors have shifted control of the agenda away from Trump.

And perhaps the most important consequence of that is that it’s attacked Trump at his weakest point; his pettiness. See how riled he is about the fact that the protestors outnumbered the people attending his inauguration. That’s a real bugbear for him. He’s a product of television shows. He lives by viewing figures. Hence how he can’t bear being beaten in the ratings by Obama.

Now his press secretary is forced to go before the media and state blatant, and easily disprovable, lies. It was a scene reminiscent of ‘Comical Ali’ the spokesman for Saddam during the gulf war. And the media have picked up on that.

It seems to me that the quickest way of getting rid of Trump may be to laugh him out of office. Treat him like the joke he is until he just can’t bear it any more. He’s playing into our hands there, and the protests have really helped that.

(Of course that doesn’t get rid of the rest of them, but it’s a start)

Ohlmann: Personally I assume that Pence is taking on the majority of the presidential duties behind the scenes anyway. I don’t necessarily think getting rid of Trump solves all the problems with his government because of that, but it can’t hurt either.

This is one of the reasons why the carnival atmosphere of a good march is so important. Music, banners, costumes and singing all help to motivate everyone to do it again next time, and that gives the movement sustained strength.

But not whistles, please! At the huge Stop the War Coalition march in London in February 2003, some tosser blew a ridiculously loud whistle right behind me, and my ears rang for hours afterwards. Thought at the time that it had permanently damaged my hearing.

@Moggie:
So true. I still remember that march: my group was sandwiched between a group of Arabs with Palestinian flags and loudspeakers, and a group of old-school trade unionists with banners and loudspeakers. We got deafened.

Speaking of Facebook memes, one that made its way across my feed a day or so ago was one showing a sidewalk after the (DC?) March was over. There were a bunch of abandoned signs off to one side of the sidewalk, leaving the road itself clear. The comment posted with it basically called feminists hypocrites for leaving all that trash behind, and thus lying about caring for the environment and stuff.

If I can figure out how to post Facebook stuff here I’ll show it to you all.

“They’ll Pull The Trigger,” On Trump Because GOP Has Always Wanted Mike Pence, says Robert Reich.

That piece rings true. I think Trump is kind of a human shield for the GOP. The unpopularity which they could otherwise expect to come their way during this administration will mostly stick to Trump, for a while. But as soon as that effect fades, or as soon as he does something so egregious that they take damage, they’ll dump him. Which, no doubt, he’ll take with his trademark quiet dignity.

And looking at the picture in the OP now has Pink’s ‘Raise Your Glass’ going through my head. I think I’m going to re-watch the video for that when I get home. Uncle Sam as a sumo wrestler, literally throwing his weight around.

So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways.
All my underdogs!
We will never be never be, anything but loud,
And nitty gritty.
Dirty little freaks.
Won’t you come on and come on and raise your glass!

@dreemr, @Redsilkphoenix, they left their signs at the foot of the Trump Hotel. That’s why they’re all piled up there. That wasn’t a general thing.

And even if it was the case that the protestors were making a huge mess in general? Doesn’t invalidate what the protest was about one bit. I’ll cry a river of tears that the oligarchs have to open their goddamn wallets to pay someone to clean up the mess.

I was wondering about that. It seemed odd to me that, if, say, only 1 out of every 1000 protesters had signs that they left behind in one stack, then there should’ve been a lot more of those signs on the sidewalk (and the road) than what was pictured there.

Makes sense that those signs were used like that in one last F-Y gesture towards Trump.

Hey guys! I actually got to go (to my local sister march)! At the last minute I was able to switch my schedule to make it work. Couldn’t stay the whole time. First time I ever went to something like that.

The march itself was actually pretty short. Had some fun signs; it almost felt like a sign fair, lol. Everyone was pointing out signs to each other. Some rararas (“Hear me roar,” “Love trumps hate,” etc). A speech or two. Inadequate number of food trucks. Three sheriffs stood on the steps of the capitol building, and as many police cars nearby, just normal stuff for a large public gathering. No issues.

A relative called, a little worried about possible violence, and I know certain media outlets have been really hyping up how peaceful it was, but seriously, it never even felt tense. It really was just, hey, let’s show up, cheer, wave a sign, walk around, and hang out.

Interestingly, the local paper (conservative bent) had three pictures, and the two biggest ones, including the front page one, were of people basically scowling and looking angry and mean. Hahaha. I mean, I guess it happened, but actually being there, I can say most people had normal faces, or even smiled. But that picture will convey to 99% of people the exact image of a straw feminist. Oh well.

Overall, I’d say it was alright. I think marches are more effective when they have a specific concrete goal, but I think it did what it was trying to accomplish. It did give people an outlet, and a sense of solidarity. It was more of a “kick-off” party to action than a protest TBH (though I see the media has dropped all attempts to clarify it was anything more than an anti-Trump protest). To the outside, the message seems mixed and muddied, but it did “make a statement” that there is a will to speak back against Trump’s conduct/words/policies, even if only through “useless, annoying protests,” as some see it.

I wish my march had done more to get participants involved in politics (as in running for office and getting educated/reliable sources). They did mention getting people signed up to vote, and had an action committee planned afterward. Then again, I didn’t stay for the whole thing, so maybe I missed stuff. I made pins for the march. Gonna hold on to those for historical value. Who knows? Maybe they’ll end up in a museum someday–Wait, no. I forgot what state I live in, lol (unless it’s like, “And in this case are the paraphernalia of the harridans. Needless to say, they were pointless and lame. Sad.” –This is a future where everyone talks in Trumpspeak). Okay, enough rambling from me.

We Hunted the Mammoth tracks and mocks the white male rage underlying the rise of Trump and Trumpism. This blog is NOT a safe space; given the subject matter -- misogyny and hate -- there's really no way it could be.